


Resurrection (Again)

by SifaShep



Series: The Boy Scout and the Badass Biotic [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, commander nathaniel shepard, destroy ending AU, post-ME3 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-05-31 20:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6486313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SifaShep/pseuds/SifaShep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Commander Nate Shepard destroyed the Reapers. But his happy ending is still out of reach. An old enemy threatens everything he fought so hard to protect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awareness

**Author's Note:**

> This is in the same universe as Bad Poetry (Shepard x Jack) and Family (ME1)

**Earth, 2188, 21 months after the end of the Reaper War**

He drifted at the edge of consciousness, unable to move, but aware of his surroundings. He heard the sounds of medical monitors, soft voices, and his own breathing. He felt the bite of needles and the dark whispers in his ear.

But he lay paralyzed and helpless to defend himself.

Voices, a man and a woman. Not Miranda Lawson and Wilson this time, but he heard a familiar accent. Damn it, where had he heard it before? He couldn't remember.

"...to the original specifications..."

"...genetic sequencing. The tendency towards biotics is strong, though it didn't manifest in him, the _potential_ is locked away in his DNA."

"Wasn't his father one of the first biotics? And his girlfriend brought up in Pragia? Can you imagine if they had a child? The probability of a super-biotic from their bloodlines would be--"

 _Jack. If they touch her, I'll kill them._ He struggled against the paralysis, using his rage to fuel his efforts. The monitors beeped a warning; there were shouts of alarm, of fear, as he felt a strange fire creep along his nerve endings. His right hand twitched into a fist and pain shot up his spine.

 _Got to break free...got to warn her..._ Her image solidified in his mind, the long lock of dark brown hair unbound, the strands framing her face, her lips open in a silent moan, face flushed with passion, as he cradled her against him, that last night of the party in his Citadel apartment...

Hot agony flowed into his arms and threatened to smother his will again. It swept over him, drowned him, the rush of blood from his ears and nose. The pain overcame him, then darkness once more.

_I'll die before they can use me to hurt her._

*****  
Unfortunately, awareness came back, sharper than ever. No, he wasn't dead. He felt a brief stab of disappointment, but he reminded himself to fight. As long as he resisted, there was a chance of escape.

"...think he'll be more tractable? We lost control of him last time. He went back to the Alliance."

The female voice sounded frustrated. "We tried to install a neural chip, but there's some sort of biological failsafe. If we try it, we'll kill him. Damn Lawson. She should have listened to her own instincts instead of the Illusive Man."

He felt a weak thread of satisfaction at that. Miranda had done the right thing.

"...can't keep him sedated on this compound for much longer. We'll have to switch to another one, soon. He nearly broke free and he's getting stronger every day. The list of available sedatives is becoming shorter and shorter."

"How many is this now? Four? Five?"

"Try _seven_. If we keep this up, nothing will work on him. His tolerance is nearly through the roof as it is. Physical restraints might not be enough. If he gets loose, he'll be a danger to everyone."

"If he gets loose, he's dead. Our soldiers are ordered to kill him on sight."

"He's--he _was_ \--Special Ops, like his father. A goddamned N7. That won't be easy. And we don't know what kind of mental state he's in, after being in an induced coma and sedated for so long. Disassociation, paranoia, sensory deprivation...the dangers--"

"--then we need to make sure he doesn't wake up until we're ready to handle him. Isn't that right?"

"This operation will come back and bite you in the arse, I'm telling you. People talk, and I'm hearing more and more concerns. They're saying that you don't have what it takes to lead Cerberus, that it died with the Illusive Man."

"He was wrong, and that's why Cerberus failed. I'm in charge now. We'll come back, stronger than ever. We've come too far, and you're in too deep to back out now."

"I have no doubt about my devotion to the cause. Just about yours."

He heard movement in his direction and let his eyes drift closed. Then the woman whispered softly into his ear:

"You're mine now. When I'm done with you, you'll _wish_ you died on the Crucible."

He felt his parched lips move into a slight smile. If only she knew...


	2. Chapter 2

"Mama! Look! Lookit me!"

Jack glanced up from her conversation with Doctor Hannah Shepard. Hannah smiled at her grandson, but it still held a trace of sadness. "We're watching, honey."

David Shepard launched himself towards the white-humped Krogan at the far end of the yard. Jack's heart stopped as he jumped onto Grunt with a war yell. Grunt roared as he fell flat on his face, arms and legs thrashing about like a beached turtle.

"Sneak attack! Sneak attack!" Grunt shouted. Arlakh Company, assist me!"

That order sent Wrex and three other Krogan running to the rescue. Jack doubled up in laughter as Wrex used his biotics to pluck David off Grunt's back. The little boy howled as the Krogan tickled him and complimented him on his daring maneuver.

"He is a true warrior, like his parents," Grunt said. He nodded at Jack. "Shepard would be proud of him."

Jack smiled; the compliment didn't hurt as much as it could have, but she felt a pang under her heart. "Yes, he would've. David looks more and more like him every day."

Grunt nodded. "He does, and he's already a spitfire, just like you. I'd say he got the best of the two of you." He glanced at Hannah. "We'll make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble."

"Thanks, Grunt. We appreciate it."

After Grunt left to rejoin his kin, Jack reached over and put a hand on Hannah's shoulder. "You all right, Doc?"

"Yes, it's just...you were right when you said he looks more like Nate, and his daring reminds me of his father, Daniel." Hannah took a deep breath "I still don't believe Nate's gone."

Jack nodded. She, too, shared the same feeling, deep-down, that the man she loved was still alive, somewhere. It was a crazy idea, but Jack thought she would just _know_ if he had died. Not too long ago, she would have dismissed it as wishful thinking. Now she wasn't too sure.

"I talked with Kaidan--Colonel Alenko--at Grissom Academy. He's invited us to tour the place."

Hannah's brow furrowed with understanding. "You used to teach there, didn't you?"

"Sure did. Kaidan's offered me my old position back. I'm seriously considering it. They need teachers with all the new generation biotics coming in after the war. It'll be good for David, too. He'll learn how do use them right and not feel ashamed for who he is."

"I think that's an excellent idea. The Alliance has come a long way since Nate's father found out he was a biotic." She looked relieved at the notion. "Plus David adores Colonel Alenko. He's a good father figure."

"He is."

Hannah inclined her head. "Are you and the colonel--?"

Jack rolled her eyes to the sky. "Why does _everyone_ think we're an item? Kaidan's a good friend, but...ever had one of those guys who you love like a brother, but if you married him, you'd probably end up killing each other? Kaidan's one of those."

She laughed and shook her head. "I thought so, but I had to ask anyway. "

"Yeah, don't feel bad, 'cause everyone does." Jack still couldn't stifle the irritation at the constant question. Now even Nate's mother seemed to think there was something going on. Kaidan was amused by it all, but he didn't say otherwise, the idiot.

There was another peal of laughter as Wrex retold the story of Kalros and Big Reaper. Grunt played the role of the thresher maw, while another Krogan ran around as Kalros, and David wove in between them to avoid them both. It looked like a ridiculous version of Tackle the Varren, but David grinned from ear to ear.

Jack chuckled. Nate had told her about his narrow escape on Tuchanka, running under both monsters to get to the Shroud. At first, she thought he was spouting a lot of bullshit, but Wrex and Bakara confirmed his story, and Garrus couldn't stop talking about it. She later saw the vid of it, and nearly freaked out. He could have been crushed, stepped on, flattened...

She confronted Nate later and he apologized for such a reckless action. Of course, he did it with the rakish smile he reserved for her, and her alone.

And he did make good on that apology. Extremely well, in fact.

David was definitely his father's son. She knew that in her heart.

*****

Kaidan checked over the arrangements for the hundredth time. Jack had accepted his offer. She and David were due to arrive at Grissom the following week. His staff needed experienced instructors, especially after the surge in student enrollment. More and more biotic children were born after the Reaper War. Kaidan suspected the high leakage of eezo from crashed ships had a part in that surge.

It was a side effect of the War that the Alliance had to deal with. Kaidan jumped at the chance to make a difference. They'd come so far since Jump Zero; no longer were biotics the pariahs they had been.

Jack wasn't the only returning Normandy crew member. Samara offered to stay for a semester to work with the advanced students. Kahlee Sanders decided to stay on as assistant administrator. Kahlee already knew the station and its routine, and she helped him tremendously in getting Grissom up and running again.

Kaidan wished Shepard was alive to see all this. He thought Nate would have been happy that David would be taken care of, and that David would receive the training to suit his talent. Daniel Shepard had been a first-generation biotic, and that power lay within his grandson.

Nate hadn't been a biotic, but the trait was genetic and could be passed on. Kaidan glanced at the two pictures on his desk. The left one showed himself, Shepard and Ashley Williams aboard the SR-1, before Virmire. The right one was of Jack and a newborn David, almost exactly nine months after the end of the Reaper War. Her features were weary with effort and grief, but there was still a spark of the survivor within her.

He sighed as he remembered that night in the Citadel apartment.  _Her_ apartment now, since Shepard had willed it to her. Jack had tried to be strong, but her voice still shook as he told him.

*****

"Kaidan...I'm pregnant. I'm gonna have his kid. The damn Boy Scout's gone and  _left me_ and  _I'm gonna have his kid_." Jack burst into hysterical tears, and Kaidan drew her shaking body into his arms. His heart ached for her. The Alliance hadn't found Shepard's body among the ruins, and the odds of his survival dwindled with each passing day.

He tried to calm her. "You're sure?"

"No such thing as being 'a little bit pregnant'. You are or you aren't," she said with bitter sarcasm. She drew back and scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. 

"The party here at the apartment? Before we hit Chronos Station?"

"Yeah. We weren't thinking...didn't take any precautions. I should've--" She broke off and shook her head. "God, what am I gonna _do_?"

Kaidan took a deep breath. " _We're_ gonna take care of you, Jack. All of us. Shepard loved you and he would have wanted you to be safe. You're not alone in this."

"But--"

"No buts." He took both her hands in his. "Me and Joker and Wrex and Grunt and Jacob and the rest...we're here to support you. Shepard was more than just our commander. You're more than just the Psychotic Biotic. You're part of our family. You'll never be alone, I swear to you."

*****

He was there when David was born, and had been the one to take the picture which now sat on his desk. Kaidan sighed again; a lot had happened in the two years since. 

"Kaidan? You have a minute?"

He glanced at Kahlee Sanders, who leaned against the door to his office. "For you, Kahlee? Always. Have a seat."

She sat in the chair opposite Kaidan and gave him a holopad. "It's official: Orion Hall is now Anderson Hall. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for this Friday."

"That's wonderful. I think the Admiral would've be proud."

Kahlee smiled. "Embarrassed as hell, maybe, but proud." That smile faded as she leaned back in her seat. "Got a report here that's caught my attention. Ascension sent me an acquisitions list for one of their ongoing research projects. Look at this and tell me I'm not seeing things."

He didn't like the ominous tone of her voice. "What is it?"

His holopad flashed with the updated information. An itemized list scrolled down his screen and he frowned at it. Most of it was in medical shorthand, but a translation appeared next to each line, written in elegant script. He recognized it as Doctor Chakwas's handwriting.

"I don't recognize most of these, but this and this...aren't they neuro-inhibitors?"

"Yes, they're used for many things, like suppressing overly active brain activity. Those medicines are tricky to use. Only a licensed pharmacologist can issue them, and each script is tailored to the patient." Kahlee highlighted three items near the bottom of the lost. "Chakwas told me these are quite powerful. They're used in worst-case scenarios."

"Worst case, being--?"

"Paranoia, homicidal tendencies...ones that are supposed to be in long-term care facilities."

Kaidan scowled; now he saw the problem. "Ascension shouldn't _have_ anyone like that over there. Why do they need these?"

"That's what I want to know. Chakwas and I did some digging...the order appears legit, but it seems like it only being routed through Ascension. Whoever ordered it doesn't work there, so we have Alliance Security investigating it...quietly."

"Good catch, Kahlee. Those drugs can really mess you up if they're taken too long or too often."

"Yes." She shivered, as if recalling an unpleasant memory. "Anyway, I thought you should know about it, just in case. If someone is using them illegally, we need to stop it."

"Agreed." Kaidan sighed and massaged his temples. He could feel another migraine coming on, and it was only ten in the morning. "Keep me updated."

She reached over and put a hand on his arm. "Jack's coming next week with little David?"

"Yeah, Tuesday. They're both excited. Wait till you meet David; he's such a ball of energy." Kaidan brightened up at the thought. "If you thought Jack was a handful, he's twice as much. The good thing is that he seems to have inherited the Shepard luck, since he's come out of his scrapes relatively in one piece."

Kahlee laughed. "I remember a certain Alliance commander and a certain Psychotic Biotic unable to keep their hands off each other on the Cerberus shuttle ride to the Normandy. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me one bit. It sounds like Jack at least has a reminder of him."

They shared a sad smile. Commander Nate Shepard was gone, but at least a part of him still lived. Kaidan vowed to protect his best friend's son with everything he had. He owed it to Shepard.

He owed it to Jack. Kaidan looked after his friends. Always.


End file.
